US President Joe Biden has appealed to lawmakers to take action following a series of shootings in major cities leaving at least 10 dead, illustrating the country's ongoing struggle with gun violence. 

In a statement issued by the White House, the President urged Republican lawmakers to join him in advancing commonsense reforms, such as a ban on assault weapons, widespread background checks, and an end to the legal immunity enjoyed by gun manufacturers. In his statement, Mr. Biden said the epidemic of gun violence in the US is tearing our communities apart.

The US has some of the highest gun ownership rates in the world, yet there are more mass shootings there, than in comparable nations. The Gun Violence Archive has recorded 346 mass shootings in the US so far in the first half of this year. Mass shootings are defined as instances of gun violence in which at least four people were hurt or killed. In fifteen of those situations, 16 persons were killed in the previous week.

Even as the White House has called for bipartisan action in response to the tragedy, conservative lawmakers have mainly opposed curbs to gun access, invoking the right to bear arms under the Second Amendment of the US Constitution. Conservative lawmakers contend that people can protect themselves by having access to firearms and that efforts to restrict gun ownership have no impact on overall rates of violence.